What might the planetary configurations tell us about the current state of the media?

Let's take a look today at the role of Saturn...

* When Saturn entered the sign of Sagittarius, in December 2014, just weeks later the Charlie Hebdo attacks occurred in France and twelve people were murdered. This event in many ways announced the entrance of Saturn into the sign of Sagittarius.

* Remember that Sagittarius is the domicile of Jupiter, which is the traditional planetary contrary to Mercury. Whereas Jupiter claims victory through belief statements, Mercury was once called "the master of arguments." In the sign of Sagittarius Mercury is thus said to be in its "detriment." Forget for a moment the aversion we might feel around the word "detriment." The simplest way to understand the classical dignities is in terms of different kinds of archetypal tensions and agreements, or various interpenetrating dynamics between the planets. A Jupiter ruled sign (Pisces/Sagittarius) is by its very nature a place where Mercury ruled things do not find themselves as comfortable as they would in their own home signs, and this is specifically because Jupiter works so much better through its convictions, beliefs, doctrines, and dogmas, than Mercury, who works best through analysis, deconstruction, critical thinking, investigation, and constant questioning.

* Now, put Saturn into Jupiter's sign and we get the zealous and severe version of Jupiter's qualities. We get the rigid, hard, intensely committed, and most conservative of Jupiter's belief statements. We get the old (Saturn) acting as the new (Jupiter's domicile). Think for a moment of the two fountainheads of populism in the US over the last few years, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. They couldn't be more different from one another, and yet they are both fiery, old men with intensely committed, and focused beliefs or behaviors. Beliefs or behaviors they stubbornly refuse to compromise.

* It is thus no surprise to see a variety of attacks being directed toward the media. First we have an Orwellian style announcement claiming the validity of "alternative facts," which is often nothing more than beliefs and the strength of ideology overriding actual, basic facts. Along with this we have seen a massive surge of "fake news" stories circulating around the web each day, alongside of the "real news" constantly being attacked and called "fake news." Additionally, we have seen the rise of populist criticism toward the media for choosing to support or not support its own biases, candidates, and spin, but at the same time we've seen networks like CNN, a network that always predictably contains debate style formats between the right and left, being constantly criticized for "faux objectivity." Add to this that many people are calling on the media to be the spearhead of the resistance and to aim their journalistic inquiries toward discovering the truth that might defend or save our constitution, democracy, or human rights.

* So on the one hand, the media has to fight off the influence of zealous ideology, both from within and without, but on the other hand the media has to become the weapon of truth, fighting against corruption, again both from within and without.

* Here's just a few obvious examples of the dynamics above...Kelly Anne Conway advertising Ivanka Trump's clothing line on air, trying to legitimize alternative facts, the constant attacks against the media from Trump and Spicer, the Fox news sexual harassment scandal, Meghan Kelly and Trump, the media giving Trump more air time than ever, the media crowning Clinton, the objective polls being totally off, the influence of disinformation and propaganda in the election, any media outlets whose information we don't like being called 'fake,' the FBI's involvement in the election, leaks, leaks, and more leaks of information, news channels being more partisan than objective, news channels becoming a force of resistance or opposition, comedy and satire being a weapon against disinformation...and...let's not forget the constant use of Twitter....

To conclude, it's important as students of astrology that we recognize that when Saturn is in the fiery sign of Jupiter there is a rigidifying of Jupiter ruled things along with a tightening of the natural tension that a Jupiter ruled sign already has with Mercury's significations. This tension is a creative tension and may actually produce incredible syntheses related to the Jupiter/Mercury dynamic, but it can also provoke tremendous polarization between the two archetypal fields in general.

For each of us personally it's an important time to really work toward objectivity, critical thinking, and rational distance, while also holding the equal and opposite tension of our most passionate commitments and beliefs. This is a time where we can each learn the value of holding these tensions with dignity and integrity.

Astro nerd note anticipating the dozen emails I will get later: It's also worth mentioning that we could easily add Saturn's square to Neptune into all of the above, helping us reach many of the same archetypal conclusions or combinations. As usual, it's my belief that the sky finds many ways to say the same things, and today's post is just one way of turning the jewel of the heavens in order to reflect upon what's happening!​Prayer: Help us hold the tension between rational distance and our most passionate convictions.

The Moon is in Sagittarius this morning, void of course. Meanwhile Saturn in Sagittarius is within less than two degrees of an exact square of Neptune, and yesterday the "western world" was shocked by a series of mass murders by Islamic terrorists in Paris.

One of my astrology students aptly pointed out the words from my post on the Centaur yesterday, "So today, let's see if we can spot the solemn, sometimes angry or zealous, figure of the sage and his arrows."

One of the most unfortunate images of Saturn in Sagittarius is the violent extremist, the Jihadist, or anyone driven to violence by dogmas, doctrines, and righteousness. Last winter when Saturn first entered Sagittarius, for example, we witnessed the attack at Charlie Hebdo in Paris and now a year later a similar attack in the same city, driven by the same religiously fueled hatred.

Neptune stands out as the promise of heaven in the minds of the terrorists, as well as the image of suicide and the surrender of self for a higher cause. Neptune also stands out as the city of Paris itself, swimming lights, romance, beauty, and Dionysian ecstasy. Paris is also the home of many ideologically driven conflicts and revolutions in the past (Saturn in Sagittarius).

With the Saturn/Neptune square, maybe the most challenging thing is to remain aware of both sides of the square rather than looking to blame one of the two planets for the more disturbing images. With a lot of intensity surrounding these events in social media today, and potentially lots of naivete as well, let's endeavor carefully and compassionately to unpack some of the more challenging elements of the Saturn/Neptune symbolism.

First, let's remember that the Saturn/Neptune square easily creates the feeling of simple, obvious victims and simple, obvious enemies. Scapegoats, martyrs, sinners, and saints. Black and white. And this is the stark literalism of Saturn as well as the deluded or intoxicated haze and victimhood of Neptune. To put it simply, there are bombs being dropped on innocent people by "democracies" day in and day out, and these events are justified because of similarly extreme beliefs that uphold the western/capitalist/consumerist/materialist way of life. We are just as fiercely complicit in ideological violence (or at least we should sincerely consider this if we haven't) as any other group. Our finger may not be on the triggers, but that's because we've dissolved the cold feeling of the trigger with the Neptunian warmth of media, film, wealth, and Starbucks idealism about the reality of things (notice the Saturn/Neptune themes again!).

This morning I was curious to see how the cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo would respond, and I found a series of images drawn in response to the attacks. I found them compelling, disturbing, and totally representative of the challenges of Saturn/Neptune in general. I'll present several of them and then offer astrological reflection.

One of them read, "Friends from the whole world, thank you for ‪#‎PrayforParis‬, but we don't need more religion! Our faith goes to music! Kissing! Life! Champagne and joy! ‪#‎Parisisaboutlife‬"

Another, "For centuries lovers of death have tried to make us lose life's flavour. They never succeed. Those who love. Those who love life. In the end, they're always the ones who are rewarded."

And still another, "The people who died tonight were out living, drinking, singing. They didn't know they had declared war."Finally, "Terrorism is not the enemy. Terrorism is a mode of operation. Repeating 'we are at war' without finding the courage to name our enemies leads nowhere. Our enemies are those that love death. In various guises, they have always existed. History forgets quickly."

Each of these cartoon statements is a compelling illustration of the Saturn/Netpune dynamic in all of its complexity.On the one hand, we essentially have the celebration of a Dionysian God on display in the words of the comic. A Neptunian god. A god of life, wine, drunkenness, music, joy, celebration, kisses, and champagne! And the cartoonist is essentially declaring that this deity is stronger than any other deity, or at least it is a stronger deity than whatever gods are to be found in the heart of violent extremists. Dionysus was the favorite god of "the people" and his mode was one and the same as the images presented by the comic above. Dionysus was a god of cities and revelry, "whose wine, music, and ecstatic dance frees his followers from self-conscious fear and care, and subverts the oppressive restraints of the powerful." He was also called Bacchus by the Romans and he carried a "thyrsus," which was a wand of fennel covered with ivy and dripping with honey. The thyrsus could be used for good or evil, as it also concealed an iron point that could be used as a weapon in order to induce madness.

Additionally there is a powerful theme of death and rebirth that surrounds Dionysus, and in fact his name means something like "he who impels the world tree."

Can we possibly argue with mythic figures in the midst of these events? The world tree is compelled by music, song, dance, champagne, kissing, joy, and the romance that words like "Paris" or "New York City" evoke. The world is born again every night in our imagination, knowing the evening is filled with candles, music, laughter, and wine. The image of Paris is an image of the grape vine of the world in all its soulfulness. It's not hard to be touched deeply by the dismemberment of Dionysus in Paris yesterday because it offends the simplest images of life and its celebration that are common to most cities across the world. The people killed were at sporting events, live music, and dinner, enjoying a night in one of the most romantic and soulful cities in the world.

On the other hand, it's important to examine the words of the cartoonist carefully so that we don't lose ourselves in the victimized haze of Dionysian monotheism. When the cartoonist says, "We don't need religion. Our faith goes to to music! Kissing! Life! Champagne and Joy," we are also seeing the fierceness of Saturn in Sagittarius. When the cartoonist says that those who value these things "are the ones rewarded in the end," we are seeing the most challenging component of the Saturn/Neptune square, which is the way in which ideologies compete even when we would like to believe there is a clear enemy and a clear victim. This is by no means a justification of violence but rather a simple point. To celebrate and live by the values the comic stands for is to live in accord with the tutelary power of a god. And gods get in fights. And gods fight differently. And gods hold and express power in the world differently.

To understand Saturn's perspective on Neptune (we might say) in a situation like this isn't easy, and in fact it can incite the madness of Dionysian followers very easily. The madness of Dionysus oversimplifies the conflict and paints the killers as "lovers of death" whereas the victims were simply "joyous lovers of life." This oversimplification is the intoxication of Neptune. It is the passive aggression and the honey soaked iron spear of the God of wine. The one who rejects religion religiously. The one who sees anyone opposed to his way of life as "aligned with death." And the more passionately black and white we come down against religion, as though this is a simple case of religion = death, the more we perpetuate the berserker frenzy of religious violence.

As unpopular as this idea may sound, we should consider it...that the world's consumerist drunkenness is a mirror image of extremist, puritanical suicide bombings and religiously fueled violence. We are not free from belief because belief is found most prominently in the way we choose to imagine our lives into being, day in and day out, and wine, kissing, and music are not free from this participation. In fact the god of these activities is one of the most beautiful and powerful, as well as seductive and destructive. It is nothing new for this god to attract powerful enemies and controversy, and it is nothing new that we should fight to protect the rights and lifestyle of this god. There is nothing wrong or incorrect about anything the comic said, is there? Perhaps only that he isn't 'aware of the god in the midst of his ideology.

Now let's zoom back out before we offend Dionysus. Because the larger point, which I hope I've made sensitively through mythic amplification/exaggeration, is that these attacks shouldn't be turned into an "us versus them" narrative. To mourn the dead who were victimized is honest and obvious. But when we move beyond that into an exploration of the questions "Why" or "What to do?" and if we have any interest in astrological symbolism, then we should strive for a deeper understanding of the gods who are at war in the midst of our ideas and responses to these questions. As James Hillman liked to say, "There is nowhere we can go where the gods are not there."

Here is to the god of wine, life, kisses, and joy. His prayers are those exact images. And here is to the god of ascetics, disciplined sobriety and religious observation. His prayers are those images.​Prayer: let us not forget the images of ascetic monks making wine for the world, while set apart from the world, and let us not forget to recite the prayers of sober saints as we raise our glasses and sing in celebration of life

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Author

Adam Elenbaas is a professional astrologer and the founder of the Nightlight Astrology School. Adam holds an MA and MFA in English and Creative Writing and is one of the founding writers at RealitySandwich. To learn more about Adam, click here.